Black Folks Love/Hate Relationship With Tyler Perry

When it comes to Tyler Perry you fall into 1 of 2 categories:  you love him or you hate him.  There really is no middle ground for this guy.  To some Black people, he is the greatest thing to happen to Black Hollywood in recent years.  To others, he is the absolute worst thing to happen.  Tyler Perry can either help to make you feel extremely proud of Black culture or totally embarrassed.  Regardless of how you choose to view Tyler Perry, it’s one thing that is for sure….he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

Personally, I DO have a love/hate relationship for Tyler Perry.  I sincerely applaud this guy for all that he has accomplished this far in life & all that he has done to help other Black actors find & keep steady work in Hollywood.  I also applaud him for making Atlanta GA the home of his TV/film creations where I’m sure he is employing numerous people that possibly had some sort of desire to work in that field without having to relocate to LA or NY.  I also applaud Tyler Perry on staying true to himself & his visions.  It’s not many people in the entertainment industry that can truly say *in their Frank Sinatra voice*, “I did it my way.”  Tyler Perry is definitely one of them.  So much props & respect to him on that aspect.

Here Is Where I Begin To Dislike Tyler Perry

I’m not a fan of his movies especially the Madea movies.  I enjoyed the first Madea movie titled Diary of a Mad Black Woman, but that was about it for me.  I also enjoyed his movie titled The Family That Preys.  I’m not a fan of his stage plays either.  I was never really a fan of any of his TV shows as well.  Truthfully, his TV shows were just there to kill time for me until I created a Netflix account & got busy with that.  The thing that irks me about Tyler Perry’s TV & film creations is that they are just too damn cheesy.  I don’t think they are as coonery as others have described…

I simply think his work is just cheesy.  When I say cheesy…I mean corny.  His shit is just painfully boring to watch period.

When Tyler Perry first hit the scene & started to make a big name for himself, just like damn near every other Black person in America, I too jumped on the TP bandwagon & tried to be supportive.  My support quickly fell off pretty much after the first Madea movie because before the first Madea movie came out, I had already seen about 2 or 3 plays by him, so taking Madea and putting her on the big screen really wasn’t that much different from what I had already seen.  I tried to be supportive of his TV shows such as House of Payne & Meet The Browns ONLY because he was filling a void in Black television at the time.  There were no black TV shows on worth watching when he started doing television.  Plus, his shows aired like 4 times a day it seems, so you almost had no choice but to eventually watch to see what the fuss was all about.  But if you are like me, you quickly discovered that his TV shows were pretty much like most his movies….not funny & boring.  Between his stage plays, his movies, & most of his TV shows; there really is no difference between either genre.  You can opt to watch one genre & damn near not miss a thing as to how the other 2 genres are going to play out.  The only thing that changes is the storyline & if Madea is involved anywhere in the storyline, you already know the plot:  distressed/abused woman gets rescued by charming/sensitive brotha all-the-while attaining valuable life lessons from Madea in the midst of Madea’s country/ghetto foolishness.  That’s pretty much it.  The TV shows aren’t that far off.

Here’s The Real Problem

There is a second side to this whole Tyler Perry fiasco that pertains to whether you love him or hate him.  If you dislike Tyler Perry in any shape, form or fashion, then the powers that be in Black Hollywood & entertainment automatically view you as a person who doesn’t support Black arts…especially if you are Black.  I read a few tweets by Roland Martin today that said:

I’ve said time & time again that I believe the hate towards @tylerperry’s movies is that we expect one movie to solve everything #NewsOneNow

another stated a few minutes later…

The level of hate towards @tylerperry is a reflection of the hypercritical nature of Black folks in that we haven’t had much to watch.

First off, when I read those tweets I thought to myself that Roland Martin just needs to shut the fuxx up.  Roland Martin is speaking (tweeting) as if we as Black people have a moral responsibility to love & support any & everything that Tyler Perry does & if we don’t, then we are essentially nothing but haters.  Mr. Roland Martin, how about some of us Black folks simply just don’t like the shit Tyler Perry creates because in essence…it’s the same shit OVER & OVER & OVER.  How many Madea movies can one man make?  I think he’s created more Madea movies than Freddie or Jason movies.  How many sappy Black love stories does Tyler Perry have to make that show a mentally and/or physically abused black woman being rescued by some random brotha that pops up out of nowhere?  How many TV shows must Tyler Perry produce that are basically just a spinoff from a previously produced movie or stage play?  Now don’t get me wrong, I applaud the man on creating, putting people to work, and doing his best inspire positivity in his creations.  But, let’s just keep it real…it’s the same shit over & over again.  Seriously, once you’ve seen 1 Tyler Perry movie, play, or TV show; you’ve pretty much seen them all.

Second, for me to feel like I’m supposed to whole-heartedly support Tyler Perry simply because he is a Black film maker is absurd as well.  I’ll support whoever the fuxx I feel like supporting regardless of if the person is black, white, or from Bollywood.  I get the whole notion of rooting for those within our culture that are making things happen, but don’t let the single attribute of falling up under a certain culture based off one’s skin complexion be the determining factor for why he or she should get my full support.  If that was the case, then I’d probably be supporting the hell out of BET as well even with all the BS they play on that channel.

Moving On

So Tyler Perry just released a new movie called Single Mom’s Club.  Will I be going to see it?  No.  Why?  Because I’ve already seen it by watching his other movies.

Here’s the thing:  I just wish this guy had a few more creative bones in his body in order to compose different story lines.  Yes, I know he’s tried a few different movies here and there that didn’t go too well at the box office, but still…how many different variations of the same subject line can one person do?  Then why must all Black people feel obligated to support any & everything he does?  I mean…Spike Lee recently released a movie called Oldboy that flopped at the theaters…I don’t recall an outcry for supporting  him.  Seems like Roland Martin & others forgot to “do the right thing” on that one.